


Pinch Me

by ObscureReference



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Anesthesia, Other, Surgery Mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-12
Updated: 2015-12-12
Packaged: 2018-05-06 06:47:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5407022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObscureReference/pseuds/ObscureReference
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Did the nurses send you?"</p>
<p>"He's broken. Great."</p>
<p>"Chill, Dex," Nursey said. "He's not an amnesiac. He's just high."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pinch Me

**Author's Note:**

> I am! Avoiding exam work! Whoops.
> 
> Also the first three lines of this have sat in my drafts forever. I wanted to write something and I figured I might as well finish it. 
> 
> Based of the famous video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqebEymqFS8

"Did the nurses send you?"

"He's broken. Great."

"Chill, Dex," Nursey said. "He's not an amnesiac. He's just high."

"What?" Chowder said slowly. He looked pretty pathetic lying on the hospital bed and wearing the thin green surgery gown the nurses had given him. Dex doubted there was a lot going on in his head right now. "What happened?"

"You had appendicitis," Dex said. "You got your appendix taken out."

And then he and Nursey had driven across the country to make sure he didn't die, because apparently his appendix nearly bursting had translated into 'stomach aches and the flu' in Chowder's mind until the pain had become bad enough to go warrant a hospital visit. They would probably have a long talk about this later, but discussing it when one third of the party had just come from surgery wasn't the best idea.

"Oh," Chowder said. He scrunched up his nose. "Are you doctors?"

Dex wasn't that concerned. They'd been told that short-term memory loss was a possibility for the first hour or so after surgery, and Chowder had recognized his mother easily enough. He wasn't eager to freak out again after being in a constant state of freaking out for the past day or so, so he reminded himself of this once or twice or five times.

"We're your boyfriends," Nursey said in lieu of an easy 'no.' Dex glared at him, but Nursey ignored him.

"My boyfriend?" Chowder repeated. He glanced between them, squinting. Dex wondered if the hospital lights were hurting his eyes and made a mental note to ask if the lights should be dimmed later. "Which one?"

Nursey answered before Dex could open his mouth.

"Actually, you're dating both of us."

Dex knocked Nursey in the shoulder, hard. "Don't tell him that! You'll just freak him out."

"Wait," Chowder said, blinking rapidly. "I'm dating _both_ of you? At the _same time_?"

"Yep," Nursey replied, popping the 'p' at the end.

"Am I a _cheater_?"

He sounded close enough to tears that Dex jumped in.

"No," he assured him. "We're all dating each other. It's cool."

"Are you _serious_?" Chowder asked. It was the most energy Dex had seen out of him so far. At least the waterworks seemed to be gone. "But you guys are so hot!"

He was loud enough that a nurse passing by the doorway ducked her head in for a moment, looked between all three of them, and then winked, ducking back out. Dex wanted to stuff his head in the sand.

" _Wow_ ," Chowder stressed. "I'm so lucky."

"Yeah, you are lucky," Dex said. Nursey grinned at him until he added, "You just had surgery and the doctors said you're going to make a full recovery. So you're pretty lucky, yeah."

Nursey grabbed Dex's hand subtly and stroked the back of it with his thumb. Dex didn't look down, but he did relax a little.

"Yeah, you're pretty lucky," Nursey agreed. "You scared us."

Chowder blinked. "Why?"

"Because you just had surgery," Nursey told him again, gently. Dex looked over to watch the soft look on Nursey's face. He looked tired. Dex knew he probably didn't look much better. "Your appendix was infected and it was scary."

That was an incredible understatement, but again, now wasn't the time to discuss that.

"Oh," Chowder said. He looked at the floor, then back up at them, eyes watery. "I'm sorry."

Dex had no doubt Chowder remembered nothing from the past few days at the moment, but the apology melted his heart a little anyway.

Not a lot to be really sticking, however— the effects of the drugs, Dex thought— so after a moment Chowder said again, "You guys are _really_ hot."

This time Nursey laughed. It was a light, easy sound, and Dex found himself smiling along with it.

"No, I mean it," Chowder said, taking Nursey's laughter to mean something else. He shook his head, then seemed to think better of it. "You guys are really hot. I love your face."

It was hard to tell who he was referring to, but it was equally possible that Chowder was talking about both of them at once. Nursey doubled over in his laughter. He had a death grip on Dex's hand that Dex couldn't escape from, making Dex wince. Chowder frowned.

"Don't laugh," he said. "I really love you. I don't even know you, and I love you already."

He paused, and Dex let him take a moment to collect himself. Chowder turned away from where Nursey had all but collapsed and eyed Dex instead.

"Do we do that?" Chowder asked. "Do we say I love you  yet?"

"Yes," Dex answered. He didn't want to say more than was necessary, but it was kind of hard not to bask in the compliments Chowder was showing them both in after the turmoil of the last few days either.

"How long have we been dating?"

The real answer was about three years, but Dex wasn't sure how much math Chowder's brain could handle. "A long time."

That answer seemed to boggle him enough.

"Wow," Chowder managed, openly staring. "I must have done something _great_."

Nursey released Dex's hand, and they both watched as Nursey curled up on the floor, tears in the corner of his eyes. It was probably more hysteria than genuine humor in Chowder's state, but Dex couldn't blame him. He knew the feeling.

Someone knocked on the doorway. Dex turned.

"Excuse me." It was the same nurse from before, but she was frowning now and sending Nursey pointed looks. "I'm afraid you'll have to quiet down if you want to stay. Also, visiting hours are almost over."

"Of course," Dex said, sounding more agreeable than he actually felt. "We'll be leaving in a moment."

"Alright." The nurse eyed Nursey once more before ducking out again.

Dex grabbed Nursey by the bicep and helped him to his feet. At least the laughter had quieted down, he thought, even if it hadn't faded completely.

"Come on, let's go," he said, ushering Nursey towards the door. "You're so obnoxious, they're kicking us out."

Nursey snorted once, but he stood on his own two feet without assistance and took a few steps toward the exit. Chowder made a noise like a wounded animal.

"You're leaving?" He asked mournfully. "But why?"

"Because visiting hours are almost over," Dex said, smoothing some of the hair away from Chowder's face. "And because you need to rest."

"Will you be back?"

"Yeah," Dex said tiredly, but smiling. "We will."

Chowder frowned, his eyelids drooping. "Do you promise?"

Nursey giggled once more, placing his hand over his heart.

"We promise," he said.

Chowder's eyelids had slipped all the way shut when he answered.

"Okay. Good."

He was probably dead asleep by the time they actually made it to the hallway, but Dex closed the door behind him softly anyway.

"I'm so tired," Nursey said quietly as they made their way out to the parking lot. His car was parked the furthest out, and Dex bemoaned that fact as they walked across the lot.

"Yeah," he agreed. There wasn't much else to say. He wanted to crash as much as Nursey did. "What time should we be back in the morning?"

"What time do visiting hours start?" Nursey asked, handing Dex his keys.

"Nine."

"We'll do nine then."

Dex nodded. Presumably Chowder would be a lot more coherent then as well.

He slid into the driver's seat of Nursey's car and threw Nursey his phone with the underlying message to text the group chat since Nursey's phone had died almost two hours ago from using Google Maps. Nursey opened the text group without comment.

Dex made a mental checklist. Sleep, eat, get to the hospital at nine to see how Chowder was doing. It had been a rough few days, but he could only be grateful nothing had gone seriously wrong. At least not as wrong as things could have been.

They had one more year of college left. They would have to discuss living arrangements pretty soon, because Dex didn't think he could make another cross-country road trip for a medical emergency. It was simply too nerve-wracking.

"Hey," Nursey said as they pulled up to a red light. "Do you think we could get on each other's emergency contact list or something?"

It took a moment for Dex's exhausted mind to process the question.

"I think you have to be married for that," he said. That might not have been true, but he couldn't remember and Nursey was the one with the phone.

"That's fine," Nursey said.

Dex blinked at a snail's pace and turned to look at the passenger seat. The light of his phone was reflecting off Nursey's face in the dark.

"Are you seriously proposing at a red light?" He asked. "And when one of us isn't even here?"

Nursey made a noise. He looked up from Dex's phone, eyebrows furrowed.

"I think so?" It was more question than statement.

Dex rolled his eyes. The light turned green. "Typical."

In the morning, he'd probably be shaking out of his skin with nerves, but for now he couldn't think of anything but sleep. They'd discuss that too, then. Seriously, and when Chowder was actually there the conversation, mentally and physically. For now, he was just happy it had all worked out.

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is http://someobscurereference.tumblr.com/


End file.
